0:00:02 > 0:00:07This programme contains scenes which some viewers may find disturbing
0:00:13 > 0:00:15I'm Gurinder Chadha.
0:00:15 > 0:00:17I'm a British film director.
0:00:18 > 0:00:23And in my films like Bend It Like Beckham, and Bhaji on the Beach,
0:00:23 > 0:00:27I've explored and celebrated what it's like to be Asian
0:00:27 > 0:00:28growing up in this country.
0:00:31 > 0:00:33Now I'm delving into my own family story.
0:00:36 > 0:00:40Growing up in an Indian or Pakistani family,
0:00:40 > 0:00:44there's one piece of history that we all know about.
0:00:44 > 0:00:48It's an event that's had a huge impact on all our lives.
0:00:48 > 0:00:50The partition of India.
0:00:52 > 0:00:57In 1947, the British divided India in two...
0:00:59 > 0:01:03..creating a newly independent India, and a new country, Pakistan.
0:01:07 > 0:01:10People of different faiths turned on each other.
0:01:10 > 0:01:1417 million people became refugees overnight.
0:01:14 > 0:01:16And over a million lost their lives.
0:01:19 > 0:01:22It was a seismic event that tore apart millions of lives
0:01:22 > 0:01:27including my own family's.
0:01:27 > 0:01:29But why did this happen?
0:01:29 > 0:01:34Like so much of history, the answer depends on who gets to tell it.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38When I was growing up, I was taught at school
0:01:38 > 0:01:41that the partition of India happened because
0:01:41 > 0:01:45we as Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, couldn't get along.
0:01:45 > 0:01:47In fact, we hated each other.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50So the British had no choice but to divide the country
0:01:50 > 0:01:52and it was our fault.
0:01:52 > 0:01:55But my mum says the opposite.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59She says that everybody got along before partition.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02So there's a major discrepancy here.
0:02:03 > 0:02:08In this film, I want to explore what really happened 70 years ago.
0:02:08 > 0:02:10Was partition inevitable?
0:02:10 > 0:02:13Was it really about religious intolerance?
0:02:13 > 0:02:17Or were there other reasons why India was divided, 70 years ago?
0:02:29 > 0:02:32You'll have tea, coffee?
0:02:34 > 0:02:35Oh, that looks nice.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38It's dhokra, but made small.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43I'm starting my journey close to home,
0:02:43 > 0:02:45by visiting my mum and my aunties in west London.
0:02:48 > 0:02:50They were young girls in 1947
0:02:50 > 0:02:54and rarely talk about how they survived partition.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59As Sikhs they found themselves living in the new state of Pakistan
0:02:59 > 0:03:03which was created as a homeland for India's Muslims.
0:03:05 > 0:03:09They were forced to flee to India when partition was announced.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15What do you remember in 1947, what happened?
0:03:31 > 0:03:34So there was your mother, there was you two
0:03:34 > 0:03:36and another little sister, baby sister?
0:03:54 > 0:03:58My family had lived in Jhelum and Rawalpindi for generations.
0:03:59 > 0:04:01When India was divided in two,
0:04:01 > 0:04:04they ended up on the wrong side of the border
0:04:04 > 0:04:06and were no longer welcome.
0:04:06 > 0:04:11That's why, along with millions of others, they were forced to flee.
0:04:13 > 0:04:18I always thought that before these troubles and before partition,
0:04:18 > 0:04:20everybody used to get on?
0:04:20 > 0:04:24What was it like before partition, with Hindus and Muslims and Sikhs?
0:04:29 > 0:04:31So how did that feel, living there, when you were all together?
0:05:08 > 0:05:12It's clear that the events of 1947 in India has affected my family
0:05:12 > 0:05:15until today, and I think it's fair to say that all of us
0:05:15 > 0:05:20who have been affected by partition still live under that shadow.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24I'd like to find out what happened to the world
0:05:24 > 0:05:28that my mum talked about, where everybody lived side by side
0:05:28 > 0:05:30as brother and sister.
0:05:30 > 0:05:34I'd like to find out where the seeds of partition started.
0:05:40 > 0:05:44If everyone got along as my mum says,
0:05:44 > 0:05:47why did anyone think Muslims needed a separate homeland?
0:05:49 > 0:05:53I want to find out where, and why, the idea of Pakistan
0:05:53 > 0:05:56was first dreamed up.
0:05:56 > 0:06:00I've arranged to meet Oxford historian Yasmin Khan,
0:06:00 > 0:06:02who's studied the roots of partition.
0:06:04 > 0:06:05Hello, Yasmin.
0:06:05 > 0:06:07- Hello.- Nice to see you.
0:06:08 > 0:06:12So I thought that I was going to get on a plane to hot, sunny India.
0:06:12 > 0:06:15But I'm here in suburban Cambridge.
0:06:15 > 0:06:17And this is the house where the word Pakistan was coined
0:06:17 > 0:06:22and where it was first written down in 1933 by a student in Cambridge.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25So it kind of all originates from here.
0:06:25 > 0:06:29So this is the very place... This is the birthplace of Pakistan.
0:06:29 > 0:06:34So it's not exactly what you associate with Pakistan.
0:06:34 > 0:06:36- What's this?- Chaudhry Rehmat Ali.
0:06:36 > 0:06:38He was a Cambridge student.
0:06:38 > 0:06:40- Yeah.- He wasn't exactly a young thing,
0:06:40 > 0:06:42he was already in his late 30s,
0:06:42 > 0:06:45he'd already done one law degree and was doing another law degree.
0:06:45 > 0:06:49And he was living here. He got increasingly interested
0:06:49 > 0:06:50in the rights of Muslims.
0:06:50 > 0:06:55He wrote this, 'Now or Never - are we to live or perish forever?'
0:06:55 > 0:06:57Very sort of rousing polemical tract.
0:06:57 > 0:07:02And he was committed to the idea of Muslims living separately to Indians
0:07:02 > 0:07:06and the idea that India couldn't be a plural, sort of, mixed place.
0:07:06 > 0:07:08And where did the word Pakistan,
0:07:08 > 0:07:10did he just come up with that in his head?
0:07:10 > 0:07:13Well, some people say he thought of it on the top of a London bus!
0:07:13 > 0:07:16But actually the first time it was written down was in this house.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19The thing that made it distinctive is because each letter stands
0:07:19 > 0:07:21for a different part of Pakistan.
0:07:21 > 0:07:23- Ah, OK.- So P is Punjab.
0:07:23 > 0:07:24A is Afghanistan.
0:07:24 > 0:07:27But he meant it to mean the North-West Frontier.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29K is Kashmir.
0:07:29 > 0:07:31S Sind.
0:07:31 > 0:07:34And then the 'stan' bit is Baluchistan.
0:07:36 > 0:07:38And then Pakistan itself means land of the pure.
0:07:38 > 0:07:40- Right.- So it had this resonance.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43So here he is, writing his pamphlets,
0:07:43 > 0:07:44coming up with these ideas.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47Was there anyone in India listening to him?
0:07:47 > 0:07:49Not really. In India,
0:07:49 > 0:07:51nobody was really thinking about a separate homeland
0:07:51 > 0:07:53for Indian Muslims, at that point.
0:07:53 > 0:07:55And so his ideas were pretty marginal.
0:08:01 > 0:08:06Leafy suburban Cambridge is the last place where I would have expected
0:08:06 > 0:08:08Pakistan to be born.
0:08:10 > 0:08:12But what is interesting about what Yasmin says
0:08:12 > 0:08:16is that nobody was interested in a separate homeland
0:08:16 > 0:08:18for Muslims at this point.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21So what happened, what changed?
0:08:25 > 0:08:28How in less than 15 years did the whimsical dream
0:08:28 > 0:08:32of a Cambridge student become a nation of 31 million people?
0:08:36 > 0:08:40To find out, I need to go to India's capital where the idea of partition
0:08:40 > 0:08:43first took hold.
0:08:58 > 0:08:59It's road rage, road rage!
0:09:01 > 0:09:05In the 1930s, Delhi was the beating heart of the largest empire
0:09:05 > 0:09:08in the history of the world.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14The British had ruled India for almost 200 years.
0:09:14 > 0:09:20A few thousand white Christians governing over 400 million Indians
0:09:20 > 0:09:23of all creeds and religions.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28English. Hindi.
0:09:30 > 0:09:36This is old Delhi and here you have Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs,
0:09:36 > 0:09:38all working together,
0:09:38 > 0:09:41living on top of each other still just like my aunts and my mum were
0:09:41 > 0:09:46talking about. You've got Sikh temples and Hindu temples, mosques,
0:09:46 > 0:09:47that have been here for centuries.
0:09:47 > 0:09:50So here you have a thriving kind of bustling,
0:09:50 > 0:09:52very mixed community still.
0:09:56 > 0:10:00Back in the '30s, the majority of Indians were Hindus.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05But a quarter of the population was Muslim.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09And there was also a significant Sikh minority.
0:10:11 > 0:10:15But for the most part, the different religions
0:10:15 > 0:10:17did live together in peace.
0:10:17 > 0:10:19So how did the divide between them begin?
0:10:24 > 0:10:29Indian MP and historian Shashi Tharoor has recently written a book
0:10:29 > 0:10:31about the British rule of India.
0:10:33 > 0:10:37If the communities in India are living side-by-side,
0:10:37 > 0:10:39what made things change?
0:10:39 > 0:10:43Well, I think principally it was a very deliberate and conscious
0:10:43 > 0:10:44British decision to separate.
0:10:44 > 0:10:48Because in Indian unity would lie the biggest threat
0:10:48 > 0:10:49to the British Empire.
0:10:49 > 0:10:54So are you saying the British started instigating a new form
0:10:54 > 0:10:56of rule and approach to India?
0:10:56 > 0:10:58- What was that called? - It was called divide and rule.
0:10:58 > 0:11:01It was called divide and rule by the British themselves.
0:11:01 > 0:11:03Systematic efforts were made
0:11:03 > 0:11:06to foment a separate Muslim consciousness,
0:11:06 > 0:11:09whether it was in creating Muslim institutions,
0:11:09 > 0:11:12including educational institutions,
0:11:12 > 0:11:15in specifically favouring people on the basis of community.
0:11:15 > 0:11:18To the extent that when Indians were allowed to vote,
0:11:18 > 0:11:22the British created separate electorates in which Muslims
0:11:22 > 0:11:25could only vote for Muslim candidates to represent them.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28Something they would have never countenanced back home in England.
0:11:28 > 0:11:31One can't imagine the Jews of Golders Green having a separate list
0:11:31 > 0:11:34to vote only for Jewish representatives.
0:11:34 > 0:11:36But the British did that in India very deliberately
0:11:36 > 0:11:38as part of divide and rule.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41And so it went all the way right through the '30s and '40s.
0:11:41 > 0:11:45Was anybody calling for a separate state of Pakistan?
0:11:45 > 0:11:47Oh, only a few cranks, really.
0:11:47 > 0:11:49And in fact the vast majority of Indian Muslims
0:11:49 > 0:11:51did not subscribe to this.
0:11:51 > 0:11:53It was still very much a minority view.
0:12:00 > 0:12:04So, according to Shashi, the British policy of divide and rule
0:12:04 > 0:12:08was a deliberate attempt to weaken the Indian people
0:12:08 > 0:12:11and stop them from challenging British rule.
0:12:11 > 0:12:15They encouraged Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs to view themselves
0:12:15 > 0:12:18as different from each other.
0:12:21 > 0:12:25And in some parts of India, Muslims were increasingly seen
0:12:25 > 0:12:27as inferior by some Hindus.
0:12:27 > 0:12:31But nobody was yet calling for Pakistan.
0:12:33 > 0:12:37Instead, since the 1920s, most Indians had been fighting
0:12:37 > 0:12:42for one thing - an independent India, free from British rule.
0:12:44 > 0:12:48The problem was that few could agree on what shape it would take.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55Three men drove the fight for independence.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Nehru
0:12:59 > 0:13:04led India's largest political party, Congress.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09This was an alliance of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs
0:13:09 > 0:13:11who campaigned for an independent India
0:13:11 > 0:13:15where all religions would live side by side.
0:13:17 > 0:13:19Mohammed Ali Jinnah led the Muslim League
0:13:19 > 0:13:23which was concerned with protecting Muslim minority rights.
0:13:28 > 0:13:30To find out more about these three men,
0:13:30 > 0:13:34I've come to see writer William Dalrymple, who lives in Delhi.
0:13:36 > 0:13:39So, William, it's lovely to see you here in India,
0:13:39 > 0:13:41in your natural habitat.
0:13:41 > 0:13:44Can you tell me something about the leading characters,
0:13:44 > 0:13:45the players of the time?
0:13:45 > 0:13:50When historians talk about the great events of history,
0:13:50 > 0:13:53they often draw on great historical forces, changes in economies,
0:13:53 > 0:13:55changes in climate.
0:13:55 > 0:13:58But with partition, a lot of it is simply due to the personalities
0:13:58 > 0:13:59of the three principal players
0:13:59 > 0:14:02and the way that two of them get on very well,
0:14:02 > 0:14:05Nehru and Gandhi, despite being very different men.
0:14:05 > 0:14:08And the fact that neither of them like, personally, Jinnah.
0:14:08 > 0:14:10And yet they should've got on.
0:14:10 > 0:14:12They were all Anglicised lawyers,
0:14:12 > 0:14:16all went to London and studied in London, studied at the bar.
0:14:16 > 0:14:20All of them returned to India wanting to free India.
0:14:20 > 0:14:21And as a personality?
0:14:21 > 0:14:23If you had a dinner party today,
0:14:23 > 0:14:26Nehru was the one of the three you would have wanted as the guest.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29Enormously handsome, enormously charming.
0:14:29 > 0:14:32Writes beautifully, is in many ways a wunderkind.
0:14:32 > 0:14:35Jinnah, he was a staunch secularist, he was a rationalist,
0:14:35 > 0:14:40quite a dry character with a brilliant academic mind.
0:14:40 > 0:14:46Gandhi sheds his suits and becomes, wears homespun, becomes the Mahatma.
0:14:46 > 0:14:51And brings his ideas of spiritual regeneration into politics.
0:14:51 > 0:14:53And Jinnah thought this was hogwash.
0:14:53 > 0:14:56He thought that Gandhi was bringing religion, Hinduism, into politics,
0:14:56 > 0:15:01by having prayers at prayer meetings and in political rallies.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04He eventually, reluctantly, takes the view that Muslims
0:15:04 > 0:15:08have to look after themselves. And that's a long and important journey.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12And one that leads him to personally falling out with Gandhi and Nehru.
0:15:15 > 0:15:20William told me that in the 1930s Nehru and Gandhi began to scorn
0:15:20 > 0:15:24Jinnah and relations between the three men deteriorated.
0:15:26 > 0:15:31They reached a new low in 1937 after elections for provincial government
0:15:31 > 0:15:33were held across India.
0:15:35 > 0:15:39Congress sweeps the board, the Muslim League does very badly.
0:15:39 > 0:15:43But Jinnah believes that it has been established between him and Congress
0:15:43 > 0:15:45that they would be sharing power.
0:15:45 > 0:15:49Whatever the results, there would be some Muslim League representation
0:15:49 > 0:15:51and he is not given it. Buoyed up with the confidence
0:15:51 > 0:15:54of their victory, Congress sweeps him aside as a minor irrelevance.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57Jinnah feels he has been double-crossed
0:15:57 > 0:15:59and it's at this point that the bitterness
0:15:59 > 0:16:03between the principal players becomes, in a way, irreconcilable.
0:16:08 > 0:16:10According to William,
0:16:10 > 0:16:15Jinnah saw his treatment by Congress as a warning that in future
0:16:15 > 0:16:18Muslim religion and culture would be ignored.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23And the growing suspicion between these three politicians
0:16:23 > 0:16:27would now unwittingly propel them along the path to partition.
0:16:30 > 0:16:34But Jinnah wasn't yet calling for a separate Muslim homeland.
0:16:36 > 0:16:38All that was about to change.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46With the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939,
0:16:46 > 0:16:49India was dragged into the conflict.
0:16:51 > 0:16:54Britain needed soldiers, so she turned to the colonies
0:16:54 > 0:16:55to provide them.
0:16:57 > 0:17:02Congress refused to support the imperialist rulers' war
0:17:02 > 0:17:03and resigned in protest.
0:17:05 > 0:17:07Its leaders were then thrown in jail.
0:17:08 > 0:17:11For Congress, this was a fatal mistake.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14Locked away, they created a power vacuum.
0:17:16 > 0:17:21Jinnah filled it by declaring his support for the British war effort.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27Then in March 1940, in Lahore,
0:17:27 > 0:17:31Jinnah made a speech that would change history.
0:17:44 > 0:17:48So at this point, I really wanted to go to Pakistan to learn more
0:17:48 > 0:17:50about Jinnah and his speech in Lahore.
0:17:50 > 0:17:52But I've been denied a visa.
0:17:52 > 0:17:56This is probably because of the tension between India and Pakistan
0:17:56 > 0:18:00right now, and it's a real tragedy for me because my ancestral homeland
0:18:00 > 0:18:04is there in Pakistan. And since I can't go to Pakistan,
0:18:04 > 0:18:08I've come back to my adopted homeland of Southall.
0:18:14 > 0:18:16I've asked Yasmin Khan to meet me again
0:18:16 > 0:18:20to explain the significance of what happened in Lahore.
0:18:20 > 0:18:24So, Yasmin, tell me about Jinnah's speech in 1940 in Lahore?
0:18:24 > 0:18:28So Jinnah, in 1940, gives a speech which really revolutionises
0:18:28 > 0:18:31the Muslim League, it really changes everything for him.
0:18:31 > 0:18:37What's important about it is that he talks about a Muslim homeland
0:18:37 > 0:18:41or Muslim states for the first time. I've got a bit here.
0:18:41 > 0:18:43He says Muslims are a nation
0:18:43 > 0:18:45according to any definition of a nation.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48And they must have their homelands, their territory, and their state.
0:18:48 > 0:18:52So he's starting to really articulate something different
0:18:52 > 0:18:54and new, which is grabbing the attention of people
0:18:54 > 0:18:57who, in the past, hadn't supported the Muslim League.
0:18:57 > 0:18:58So that was a turning point.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01It's a huge turning point, it's a pivotal moment, really.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04Because people suddenly think the Muslim League
0:19:04 > 0:19:07isn't just campaigning for Muslim rights in India,
0:19:07 > 0:19:11they may also be campaigning for a separate state or states.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14So suddenly this idea of a separate country...
0:19:14 > 0:19:16- Yeah.- It's quite radical, right?
0:19:16 > 0:19:17It is radical.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20Why do you think he chose this particular moment
0:19:20 > 0:19:22to make this speech?
0:19:22 > 0:19:26It's March 1940, so the Second World War is just a few months old.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29It's thrown Congress into disarray,
0:19:29 > 0:19:31so Jinnah uses that to seize the moment.
0:19:31 > 0:19:37As these calls for separatism started to gain popularity
0:19:37 > 0:19:39with ordinary people,
0:19:39 > 0:19:42what were the other signs of divisions that you saw happening?
0:19:42 > 0:19:45Yeah, there are little things that start to creep in.
0:19:45 > 0:19:49People being very wary about their neighbours perhaps,
0:19:49 > 0:19:54starting to have economic ideas of nationalism.
0:19:54 > 0:19:57So they would just buy from a Hindu or buy from a Muslim shopkeeper
0:19:57 > 0:20:00rather than going to the market before and buying from everybody.
0:20:00 > 0:20:04There's more and more, kind of, unpleasant, kind of,
0:20:04 > 0:20:07characterisation of the other happening
0:20:07 > 0:20:09in newspapers and popular pamphlets.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12Using inflammatory language and who were trying to, on all sides,
0:20:12 > 0:20:15trying to, sort of, rally their supporters.
0:20:19 > 0:20:21So what's interesting about what Yasmin says
0:20:21 > 0:20:24is that the genie was finally out of the bottle.
0:20:24 > 0:20:27Here was a politician standing up
0:20:27 > 0:20:29and saying India needed to be divided,
0:20:29 > 0:20:33Muslims wanted their own separate homeland called Pakistan.
0:20:34 > 0:20:37But partition was still not inevitable at this point.
0:20:37 > 0:20:42Most Muslims didn't want a separate homeland, so what changed?
0:20:55 > 0:20:58To find out how partition came a step closer,
0:20:58 > 0:21:00I need to travel back to India
0:21:00 > 0:21:03and head to the foothills of the Himalayas.
0:21:13 > 0:21:17In June 1945, the war was over.
0:21:17 > 0:21:20During the past five years, most Indian people
0:21:20 > 0:21:23had supported the British war effort,
0:21:23 > 0:21:26providing thousands of troops and nurses.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31In return, the British had promised them self-rule
0:21:31 > 0:21:33at the end of the war.
0:21:35 > 0:21:36Now they had to deliver.
0:21:38 > 0:21:41They announced a conference to be held in the summer retreat
0:21:41 > 0:21:42of the Raj.
0:21:44 > 0:21:45Simla.
0:21:52 > 0:21:56This was where the British rulers of India moved every summer
0:21:56 > 0:21:58to avoid the heat of Delhi.
0:22:02 > 0:22:04This is my mum's favourite.
0:22:09 > 0:22:13It was a little England in the Indian hills.
0:22:23 > 0:22:25The aim of the conference
0:22:25 > 0:22:28was to decide the political future of India.
0:22:30 > 0:22:33With the Congress leaders released from jail,
0:22:33 > 0:22:37India's politicians came here to meet with Viceroy Wavell,
0:22:37 > 0:22:40the British government's representative in India.
0:22:41 > 0:22:45If successful, the conference would pave the way
0:22:45 > 0:22:47for a united, independent India.
0:22:49 > 0:22:52But could all sides ever see eye to eye?
0:22:53 > 0:22:55- NEWSREEL:- Clouds gather over Simla for the opening
0:22:55 > 0:22:58of Lord Wavell's conference with the Indian leaders...
0:23:03 > 0:23:05To find out what happened,
0:23:05 > 0:23:07I'm meeting local historian Raaja Bhasin,
0:23:07 > 0:23:10who's written about the conference.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15How did Jinnah react to this conference?
0:23:15 > 0:23:17Wavell found Jinnah argumentative.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22He simply wouldn't budge from whatever stand he had taken,
0:23:22 > 0:23:24on anything.
0:23:24 > 0:23:26He remained aloof, distant.
0:23:26 > 0:23:28He is the man who is standing away
0:23:28 > 0:23:31with his back towards everyone else.
0:23:31 > 0:23:36He remained adamant that the Muslim League will represent all Muslims
0:23:36 > 0:23:38in the Indian subcontinent,
0:23:38 > 0:23:41and no-one else has the right to do so.
0:23:41 > 0:23:43Not the other Muslim parties, not the Congress.
0:23:43 > 0:23:47So Jinnah took quite an audacious position, some might say,
0:23:47 > 0:23:54by not willing to negotiate with anybody, not Wavell, not Congress.
0:23:54 > 0:23:57Do you think he was trying to derail the conference?
0:23:58 > 0:24:02Yes. Even Wavell went on record to say that it had failed.
0:24:02 > 0:24:04That the Simla conference had failed.
0:24:04 > 0:24:08But from Jinnah's point of view, it was a great success.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11For one, he emerged as the undisputed leader
0:24:11 > 0:24:12of the Muslim community,
0:24:12 > 0:24:16he came away from the conference having got what he wanted.
0:24:27 > 0:24:31Raaja explained that the conference catapulted Jinnah
0:24:31 > 0:24:32to political stardom.
0:24:34 > 0:24:38It showed India's Muslims that Jinnah was the man to stand up
0:24:38 > 0:24:41for their rights against the Hindu majority.
0:24:43 > 0:24:46He convinced them that Pakistan was better
0:24:46 > 0:24:50than being second-class citizens in a Hindu dominated India.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58So after talking to Raaja,
0:24:58 > 0:25:01it's clear that here in Simla, in June 1945,
0:25:01 > 0:25:04Jinnah knew exactly what he wanted to come out of this conference,
0:25:04 > 0:25:06and he was going for it.
0:25:06 > 0:25:10He was intransigent and very firm in fighting for what he wanted.
0:25:11 > 0:25:14Jinnah was the star now, Jinnah had the power
0:25:14 > 0:25:18and it seems partition was getting closer and closer.
0:25:23 > 0:25:26- NEWSREEL:- Labour will now have a majority over all parties
0:25:26 > 0:25:27in a house of 640...
0:25:30 > 0:25:34Just one month later, in July 1945,
0:25:34 > 0:25:36Clement Attlee's new Labour government
0:25:36 > 0:25:38meant a new future for India.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44Attlee's priority was to get Britain out as quickly as possible.
0:25:45 > 0:25:48After six years of war, Britain was bankrupt
0:25:48 > 0:25:52and India was a massive drain on British resources.
0:25:54 > 0:25:59So the British announced elections for an Indian national government,
0:25:59 > 0:26:02to help them run the country in the lead up to independence.
0:26:06 > 0:26:11But these elections would divide the Indian people even further
0:26:11 > 0:26:13along religious lines.
0:26:14 > 0:26:18While Congress campaigned for a united India,
0:26:18 > 0:26:21the Muslim League declared that a vote for them
0:26:21 > 0:26:23was a vote for Pakistan.
0:26:26 > 0:26:31But Hindu hardliners dismissed Pakistan as an absurd concept.
0:26:37 > 0:26:42These were the elections that really brought religion into politics.
0:26:42 > 0:26:46By taking up the slogan of a vote for Pakistan is a vote for Islam,
0:26:46 > 0:26:49Jinnah changed everything.
0:26:49 > 0:26:51Once he started that kind of sloganeering,
0:26:51 > 0:26:54other communities started questioning themselves.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56You had the Sikhs calling for their own separate homeland.
0:26:58 > 0:27:00This was not what Congress had been fighting for.
0:27:06 > 0:27:10Religious identity was being used by all parties
0:27:10 > 0:27:13to turn the Indian people against each other.
0:27:15 > 0:27:18I want to know how the British rulers of India
0:27:18 > 0:27:20now proposed to deal with the rising tension
0:27:20 > 0:27:22between the different communities.
0:27:24 > 0:27:27And to find that out, I need to go back to Delhi.
0:27:45 > 0:27:50By early 1946, anti-British feeling was on the rise.
0:27:54 > 0:27:57Attlee was under pressure to come up with an exit strategy.
0:27:59 > 0:28:04So in March, the British formulated a plan for Indian independence
0:28:04 > 0:28:08that they felt might be acceptable to both sides.
0:28:12 > 0:28:15The Cabinet mission plan proposed the united India
0:28:15 > 0:28:17demanded by Congress.
0:28:18 > 0:28:22As a concession to the Muslim League, it also proposed
0:28:22 > 0:28:26giving them almost complete power over the areas they governed.
0:28:27 > 0:28:31They would run everything apart from defence and foreign affairs
0:28:31 > 0:28:33which would be controlled centrally.
0:28:35 > 0:28:39Although the plan didn't give Jinnah his Pakistan, he accepted it.
0:28:41 > 0:28:44I've come back to see William Dalrymple,
0:28:44 > 0:28:47to find out why Jinnah said yes.
0:28:47 > 0:28:50Everyone expects Jinnah to reject it.
0:28:50 > 0:28:53Because he has been very strong on the idea of Pakistan
0:28:53 > 0:28:55as an entirely separate country.
0:28:55 > 0:28:58But the offer put on the table by the Cabinet mission
0:28:58 > 0:29:01is so strong, with such powers given to the regions,
0:29:01 > 0:29:04that Jinnah, to everyone's amazement, actually accepts it.
0:29:04 > 0:29:07And then, to everyone's equal surprise,
0:29:07 > 0:29:08it's Congress that rejects it.
0:29:08 > 0:29:13And the person who's militating most strongly against it, is Nehru.
0:29:13 > 0:29:17So why did Nehru in particular and Congress reject this plan?
0:29:17 > 0:29:20Congress rejected the Cabinet mission plan
0:29:20 > 0:29:23for exactly the same reason that Jinnah accepted it.
0:29:23 > 0:29:27Because there was very strong powers given to the regions.
0:29:27 > 0:29:29And to the different states.
0:29:29 > 0:29:33And for Nehru, this meant there would be a Balkanised India,
0:29:33 > 0:29:36one strung out, weak, without any central authority.
0:29:36 > 0:29:40And at this point, Nehru is looking admiringly at Soviet Russia.
0:29:40 > 0:29:42He likes central planning and he wants a country
0:29:42 > 0:29:44which can hold together.
0:29:44 > 0:29:48And he rejects the Cabinet mission plan and at that point,
0:29:48 > 0:29:53for the first time, partition seems inevitable.
0:30:01 > 0:30:06Pakistan, an idea which had only been dreamt up 13 years earlier,
0:30:06 > 0:30:08was now closer than ever.
0:30:11 > 0:30:13India's politicians were in deadlock.
0:30:13 > 0:30:16And violence between Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims
0:30:16 > 0:30:18was breaking out in many places.
0:30:24 > 0:30:26To understand why this was happening,
0:30:26 > 0:30:29I have to travel to India's old colonial capital...
0:30:31 > 0:30:33..Kolkata.
0:31:10 > 0:31:11Look at this monument here.
0:31:17 > 0:31:21Looks like I could be in the City right now, in London.
0:31:21 > 0:31:22But, of course, I'm not.
0:31:22 > 0:31:26I'm here in Kolkata, a city I've never visited.
0:31:28 > 0:31:32This was the home of the British for over 200 years.
0:31:33 > 0:31:37We're here because in 1946, this is where
0:31:37 > 0:31:41the independence struggle, for a free India,
0:31:41 > 0:31:46which up till now had been incredibly peaceful,
0:31:46 > 0:31:49led by Gandhi as a nonviolent movement,
0:31:49 > 0:31:53it was here that things suddenly changed and became the opposite.
0:32:06 > 0:32:10This is the Maidan, a huge park in the centre of Kolkata.
0:32:12 > 0:32:15Following Nehru's rejection of the Cabinet mission,
0:32:15 > 0:32:18Jinnah called for a direct action day,
0:32:18 > 0:32:21a Muslim general strike across India,
0:32:21 > 0:32:26that was to be held on the 16th of August 1946.
0:32:28 > 0:32:34In Kolkata, thousands of Muslims gathered here to demand Pakistan.
0:32:37 > 0:32:41The city was divided almost equally between Hindus and Muslims
0:32:41 > 0:32:44and religious tensions had been growing for months.
0:32:49 > 0:32:54When the meeting ended, some Muslims attacked Hindu areas of the city.
0:32:57 > 0:33:01Hindus retaliated, and the violence quickly escalated.
0:33:05 > 0:33:10Ashok Choudhury and Abid Mollah were children when the riots broke out.
0:33:11 > 0:33:14They watched as the violence unfolded.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17Abid is Muslim, Ashok is Hindu.
0:33:19 > 0:33:21In August 1946...
0:34:02 > 0:34:07The main feeling was that of panic.
0:34:07 > 0:34:09Everybody was panicking.
0:34:09 > 0:34:11Nobody moved alone.
0:34:11 > 0:34:13Everybody tried to move with a companion.
0:34:13 > 0:34:16Some four or five together.
0:34:16 > 0:34:21And with some sort of material for his defence.
0:34:21 > 0:34:26Maybe a knife, maybe bricks.
0:34:26 > 0:34:27Something for his defence.
0:34:36 > 0:34:38The killing continued for three days.
0:34:43 > 0:34:45At least 5,000 people were killed.
0:34:52 > 0:34:55Historian Suranjan Das is the world's leading authority
0:34:55 > 0:34:57on the Kolkata riots.
0:34:57 > 0:35:01I want to know why the violence was so extreme.
0:35:03 > 0:35:07The fight for Pakistan was actually projected as a holy war.
0:35:07 > 0:35:11There were new newspapers coming in from the Muslim side.
0:35:11 > 0:35:14There were pamphlets coming in from the Muslim side.
0:35:14 > 0:35:16There were large-scale demonstrations
0:35:16 > 0:35:18that were organised in support of Pakistan.
0:35:18 > 0:35:22How did the Hindu leaders react to the Muslim League's call
0:35:22 > 0:35:26- for a day of action?- The Hindus were not less prepared.
0:35:26 > 0:35:29The Hindus had realised that there would be troubles.
0:35:29 > 0:35:32Just as the Muslim League were organising themselves,
0:35:32 > 0:35:34they had also organised themselves.
0:35:34 > 0:35:40Suranjan explained how the violence was allowed to go on unchecked.
0:35:40 > 0:35:44The British governor of Kolkata refused to bring up the troops,
0:35:44 > 0:35:46until it was too late.
0:35:48 > 0:35:52If the British Governor had intervened at the right time,
0:35:52 > 0:35:56in the right way, I feel the violence would not have taken
0:35:56 > 0:35:58the proportion that it did.
0:35:58 > 0:36:01I wonder why the British governor was not that forthcoming
0:36:01 > 0:36:02in introducing troops.
0:36:02 > 0:36:05It was evident that they would have to leave India.
0:36:05 > 0:36:08When and how, it was only a matter of time.
0:36:08 > 0:36:11So that acted as a factor in psychology.
0:36:11 > 0:36:13So they didn't want to get involved?
0:36:13 > 0:36:14They didn't want to get involved.
0:36:14 > 0:36:19As a result there was the worst communal hysteria.
0:36:19 > 0:36:22It showed that partition was on the way out.
0:36:34 > 0:36:40So, as I leave Kolkata, I really believe that these sad events
0:36:40 > 0:36:44of August 1946 were a real victory for divide and rule.
0:36:46 > 0:36:50Hatred and violence entered the political arena here in India,
0:36:50 > 0:36:51in a big way.
0:36:51 > 0:36:53A precedent had been set.
0:36:53 > 0:36:57And where were the British during all this?
0:36:57 > 0:37:00They were still the rulers of this country.
0:37:00 > 0:37:02They could have stopped the rioting like that...
0:37:02 > 0:37:04SHE CLICKS HER FINGERS But they chose not to.
0:37:04 > 0:37:08And was it because they couldn't be bothered?
0:37:08 > 0:37:12Was it because they didn't care about Hindus and Muslims
0:37:12 > 0:37:14killing each other?
0:37:14 > 0:37:18Or was there something else going on behind-the-scenes?
0:37:35 > 0:37:39Back in London, Attlee was appalled by the violence in Kolkata.
0:37:40 > 0:37:45He summoned the Indian politicians to yet another conference.
0:37:45 > 0:37:47This time, in Downing Street,
0:37:47 > 0:37:50to knock heads together and find a solution.
0:37:52 > 0:37:54Predictably, they couldn't come to an agreement.
0:37:57 > 0:38:00Nehru flew straight home,
0:38:00 > 0:38:02but Jinnah didn't.
0:38:04 > 0:38:07Jinnah stayed behind for two weeks in London,
0:38:07 > 0:38:09meeting various dignitaries,
0:38:09 > 0:38:12and members of the British establishment.
0:38:12 > 0:38:15One of which was Winston Churchill.
0:38:15 > 0:38:17And you don't get more establishment than him.
0:38:22 > 0:38:25So why did Jinnah stay behind to meet Churchill,
0:38:25 > 0:38:27now leader of the opposition?
0:38:28 > 0:38:30Thank you.
0:38:30 > 0:38:31What was going on here?
0:38:37 > 0:38:41Historian Alex von Tunzelmann has written about Jinnah's relationship
0:38:41 > 0:38:43with Churchill.
0:38:44 > 0:38:46Why was Churchill cosying up to Jinnah?
0:38:46 > 0:38:49Well, Churchill had had an interest in the idea of Pakistan
0:38:49 > 0:38:51for quite a long time.
0:38:51 > 0:38:54He'd always had quite a negative attitude towards India.
0:38:54 > 0:38:58He famously had said, "I hate Indians, they are a beastly people,
0:38:58 > 0:38:59"with a beastly religion."
0:38:59 > 0:39:01Really though, he was talking about Hindus.
0:39:01 > 0:39:03Certainly, people of Churchill's generation,
0:39:03 > 0:39:07there's a perception that Muslims are much more like us.
0:39:07 > 0:39:09Like British people.
0:39:09 > 0:39:10They have one God.
0:39:10 > 0:39:14They were seen as much more natural allies of the West,
0:39:14 > 0:39:17whereas Hindus, a lot of British people
0:39:17 > 0:39:19found very hard to understand.
0:39:19 > 0:39:23Lots of gods, a confusing religion, a very different feel and culture.
0:39:23 > 0:39:26So a lot of people of Churchill's generation discovered
0:39:26 > 0:39:29that they felt closer to Muslims than Hindus.
0:39:29 > 0:39:34So tell me what happened in 1946, when the leaders came to England?
0:39:34 > 0:39:37Churchill invited Jinnah to Chartwell, his country house,
0:39:37 > 0:39:38on the 7th of December.
0:39:38 > 0:39:41We don't have a record of what happened during that lunch,
0:39:41 > 0:39:42but we know that it went very well,
0:39:42 > 0:39:45because afterwards there was this extraordinary letter that Churchill
0:39:45 > 0:39:47wrote to Jinnah.
0:39:47 > 0:39:50I've got a copy of the letter here.
0:39:50 > 0:39:53It says, "My dear Mister Jinnah,
0:39:53 > 0:39:55"I should greatly like to accept your kind invitation
0:39:55 > 0:39:57"to luncheon on December 12th.
0:39:57 > 0:39:59"I feel, however, that it would perhaps be wiser
0:39:59 > 0:40:03"for us not to be associated publicly at this juncture.
0:40:03 > 0:40:05"I greatly valued our talk the other day,
0:40:05 > 0:40:07"and I now enclose the address to which any telegrams
0:40:07 > 0:40:09"you may wish to send me, can be sent
0:40:09 > 0:40:12"without attracting attention in India."
0:40:12 > 0:40:15So this is a fascinating letter, which implies the two men
0:40:15 > 0:40:18probably had a secret correspondence afterwards.
0:40:18 > 0:40:19It's clearly very warm.
0:40:19 > 0:40:20Clearly they got on well,
0:40:20 > 0:40:23but Churchill realised that it would be bad to be seen publicly with
0:40:23 > 0:40:26Jinnah. So there was this idea of having a secret correspondence.
0:40:26 > 0:40:29Was it only Churchill that he was seeing?
0:40:29 > 0:40:33What was the feeling of the British establishment at that time?
0:40:33 > 0:40:36Actually, it wasn't just Churchill.
0:40:36 > 0:40:38We know that he also met the King and Queen at that time.
0:40:38 > 0:40:41He went to Buckingham Palace and met them.
0:40:41 > 0:40:43Jinnah was very impressed when he met the King and Queen,
0:40:43 > 0:40:46because he found, in his words, that they were 100% Pakistan.
0:40:46 > 0:40:48They fully supported his idea.
0:40:48 > 0:40:55Already, I've had the opportunity of meeting some friends,
0:40:55 > 0:40:58and I might yet find more friends.
0:41:01 > 0:41:05No one knows whether the King and Queen really supported Pakistan,
0:41:05 > 0:41:06as Jinnah claimed.
0:41:07 > 0:41:09But as Alex explained,
0:41:09 > 0:41:13there were some people in the British establishment,
0:41:13 > 0:41:17like Churchill, who did support the creation of Pakistan.
0:41:18 > 0:41:20Why was that?
0:41:23 > 0:41:27I recently made a feature film, Viceroy's House,
0:41:27 > 0:41:30which relives what happened in the dramatic weeks
0:41:30 > 0:41:32immediately before partition.
0:41:36 > 0:41:38It looks at what the British were thinking
0:41:38 > 0:41:41as they prepared to leave India.
0:41:45 > 0:41:47While I was writing the film,
0:41:47 > 0:41:51I came across documents which I believe helped to explain
0:41:51 > 0:41:55why some in the British establishment supported partition.
0:41:56 > 0:42:00In the archives of the British library,
0:42:00 > 0:42:03is a document marked 'Most Secret'.
0:42:03 > 0:42:07It was written by the military chiefs of staff for Churchill
0:42:07 > 0:42:09when he was still prime minister.
0:42:10 > 0:42:13Yasmin Khan has studied it.
0:42:13 > 0:42:15So, what do we have here?
0:42:15 > 0:42:19This document was produced just before the very end of the war,
0:42:19 > 0:42:20in May 1945.
0:42:20 > 0:42:24What it shows us is just how nervous and worried the military,
0:42:24 > 0:42:28the British military, were about the prospect of Indian independence.
0:42:28 > 0:42:31India had always been a linchpin.
0:42:31 > 0:42:36It was the pivotal place between the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
0:42:37 > 0:42:39And they are very worried about the, sort of,
0:42:39 > 0:42:42future security of South Asia if Britain aren't there.
0:42:42 > 0:42:45In particular, the idea that Russia will push down
0:42:45 > 0:42:47and bring Communist influence from the north.
0:42:47 > 0:42:49So, you're talking about the Cold War?
0:42:49 > 0:42:51We're talking about the Cold War, definitely.
0:42:51 > 0:42:55This is all about the threat of Soviet influence in Asia.
0:42:55 > 0:42:58And of the Russian threat to India, in particular.
0:42:58 > 0:43:03So, they're really concerned to be able to keep that presence,
0:43:03 > 0:43:06or to keep that influence, that military influence.
0:43:06 > 0:43:08There's a very interesting sentence here, it says,
0:43:08 > 0:43:10"It is of paramount importance that India
0:43:10 > 0:43:14"should not secede from the Empire or remain neutral in war."
0:43:14 > 0:43:16Which is, you know, really saying,
0:43:16 > 0:43:20that they want to be able to dictate Indian foreign policy in the future.
0:43:20 > 0:43:22So what are the conclusions?
0:43:22 > 0:43:25What they know they want is a strategic reserve in India,
0:43:25 > 0:43:28that's centrally placed, with airfields that they can control
0:43:28 > 0:43:31and with a reserve which could operate in war,
0:43:31 > 0:43:34and be used outside of India in the region.
0:43:34 > 0:43:36The problem they have is they know full well
0:43:36 > 0:43:38the Congress party and the Indian nationalists
0:43:38 > 0:43:41are unlikely to allow that to happen.
0:43:41 > 0:43:44So one of the solutions they suggest is that Baluchistan,
0:43:44 > 0:43:48which is now part of Pakistan, could be, perhaps,
0:43:48 > 0:43:50not included in the Dominion.
0:43:50 > 0:43:54And therefore, used as a place to station reserves.
0:43:54 > 0:43:59So it's basically saying, if we carve off a little bit of India,
0:43:59 > 0:44:03a place that exists at the moment as India, but if we carve it off,
0:44:03 > 0:44:06we can make that a military base.
0:44:06 > 0:44:11- Yeah.- So were there, then, people in the British camp,
0:44:11 > 0:44:15who saw a particular role for Pakistan based on this document?
0:44:15 > 0:44:18There would have been people who would have seen it
0:44:18 > 0:44:21as potentially a way of maintaining British influence in the region
0:44:21 > 0:44:24in a way that they couldn't with a united India.
0:44:29 > 0:44:31This wasn't the official government line.
0:44:31 > 0:44:35Attlee always stated that he wanted to leave behind a united India.
0:44:37 > 0:44:42But, as Yasmin says, there were some people in the British establishment
0:44:42 > 0:44:46who favoured strategic considerations over Indian unity.
0:44:49 > 0:44:53So, clearly, there was a much bigger global agenda here,
0:44:53 > 0:44:56and I believe that Nehru and Gandhi never realised
0:44:56 > 0:45:01how significant India was in this new, post-war map of the world.
0:45:02 > 0:45:07On the other hand, I think Jinnah, with his friends in England, did.
0:45:07 > 0:45:11And I believe he knew that if he could give them politically,
0:45:11 > 0:45:14and strategically, what they wanted, he would get his Pakistan.
0:45:22 > 0:45:25With Nehru and Jinnah in deadlock,
0:45:25 > 0:45:29the British government finally took decisive action.
0:45:31 > 0:45:34On 20th February 1947,
0:45:34 > 0:45:38Attlee told parliament that Britain would leave India
0:45:38 > 0:45:40no later than June 1948,
0:45:40 > 0:45:45with or without any agreement between Nehru and Jinnah.
0:45:49 > 0:45:53When Clement Attlee made his announcement here 70 years ago,
0:45:53 > 0:45:57the news was received with great relief in India.
0:45:57 > 0:46:00The British Raj would finally be over.
0:46:00 > 0:46:04But what was that independent India going to look like?
0:46:04 > 0:46:07With so many agendas at play, who was going to win out?
0:46:26 > 0:46:30Back in Delhi, the endgame of independence was about to begin.
0:46:32 > 0:46:35To carry out the final negotiations,
0:46:35 > 0:46:38Attlee sent a big hitter to be the new viceroy.
0:46:44 > 0:46:46- NEWSREEL:- At Delhi, Lord Louis Mountbatten arrives
0:46:46 > 0:46:49to take up his appointment as India's viceroy
0:46:49 > 0:46:50and governor general.
0:46:50 > 0:46:54At a crucial moment in India's history, the 47-year-old grandson
0:46:54 > 0:46:57of Queen Victoria becomes the 29th, and last, Viceroy.
0:47:01 > 0:47:06In March 1947, Mountbatten arrived here in viceroy's house.
0:47:06 > 0:47:10This magnificent palace had been built and completed
0:47:10 > 0:47:14only a decade earlier, to house the British rulers of India.
0:47:14 > 0:47:17And here, in these corridors of power,
0:47:17 > 0:47:21Mountbatten oversaw the negotiations for the final end of British rule.
0:47:25 > 0:47:30Mountbatten was chosen because, as a decorated war hero,
0:47:30 > 0:47:31and relation of the King,
0:47:31 > 0:47:36it was hoped the Indian leaders would see him as an honest broker.
0:47:38 > 0:47:42Officially, at least, a united India was still on the cards
0:47:42 > 0:47:46and Mountbatten was seen as the man who could deliver it.
0:47:48 > 0:47:51But was it really still a possibility?
0:47:52 > 0:47:57As I was growing up, I had always been told that Mountbatten arrived
0:47:57 > 0:48:02in India hoping to give India back, as a unified country.
0:48:02 > 0:48:07I find that, honestly, somewhat implausible.
0:48:07 > 0:48:10By the time Mountbatten arrived in March '47,
0:48:10 > 0:48:15you had seen not only Wavell's failure, the previous viceroy,
0:48:15 > 0:48:18but you'd seen the violence having begun.
0:48:18 > 0:48:23Particularly with Direct Action Day in August 1946, in Kolkata.
0:48:23 > 0:48:28So I think he came as a credible face of, sort of,
0:48:28 > 0:48:32well-meaning British attempts to find a solution acceptable to all.
0:48:32 > 0:48:36But, very clearly, the British establishment behind him had,
0:48:36 > 0:48:39in my view, decided that partition was the only way out.
0:48:39 > 0:48:43The first few weeks of negotiating convinced Mountbatten,
0:48:43 > 0:48:45I think, there was no way forward.
0:48:50 > 0:48:54With all sides at loggerheads, Mountbatten quickly realised
0:48:54 > 0:48:58that partition was the only workable solution.
0:48:59 > 0:49:01Nehru reluctantly accepted
0:49:01 > 0:49:05that if he wanted to keep control over most of India,
0:49:05 > 0:49:07then he would have to give Jinnah Pakistan.
0:49:09 > 0:49:13All parties now agreed to India being split in two.
0:49:19 > 0:49:22With violence spreading across northern India,
0:49:22 > 0:49:26Mountbatten now made a dramatic announcement.
0:49:27 > 0:49:32Partition would not take place in June 1948 as planned
0:49:32 > 0:49:37but ten months earlier, in August 1947,
0:49:37 > 0:49:39now just weeks away.
0:49:40 > 0:49:42Why do you think he brought the date forward?
0:49:42 > 0:49:44I think there was a perception
0:49:44 > 0:49:46that matters were spiralling out of control.
0:49:46 > 0:49:50The British felt that they didn't want to be holding the reins
0:49:50 > 0:49:52while this happened. They didn't want to be blamed.
0:49:52 > 0:49:55Therefore, they thought, if they made their exit
0:49:55 > 0:49:59sooner rather than later, the Indians could kill themselves,
0:49:59 > 0:50:01and it wouldn't be the British's problem.
0:50:01 > 0:50:05That seems a cynical way of putting it, but I think, almost certainly,
0:50:05 > 0:50:07that seems to have been their thinking.
0:50:07 > 0:50:11You think they were rats leaving a sinking ship?
0:50:11 > 0:50:16I am afraid so, yeah. The British scuttled.
0:50:17 > 0:50:21They actually sank the ship first.
0:50:21 > 0:50:24And then they swam away from it.
0:50:28 > 0:50:32The agreed plan gave Pakistan the Muslim majority provinces
0:50:32 > 0:50:34in the North.
0:50:36 > 0:50:40Jinnah had also wanted the wealthy provinces of Bengal and the Punjab.
0:50:42 > 0:50:44But as these were religiously mixed,
0:50:44 > 0:50:49the British decided to divide them between India and Pakistan,
0:50:49 > 0:50:50tearing them in two.
0:50:53 > 0:50:57They would keep the precise details of the new borders secret
0:50:57 > 0:51:01until after independence, so as not to overshadow the celebrations.
0:51:10 > 0:51:13Nobody was happy with the Mountbatten plan.
0:51:13 > 0:51:17The Muslims ended up with a Pakistan which they called "moth-eaten."
0:51:17 > 0:51:20The Hindus ended up with a divided India.
0:51:20 > 0:51:26And the Sikhs lost huge tracts of their religious and holy lands.
0:51:26 > 0:51:30Everybody was unhappy, except the British,
0:51:30 > 0:51:32who couldn't wait to get out fast enough.
0:51:43 > 0:51:48Just two months later on the 15th of August 1947,
0:51:48 > 0:51:52the newly created countries of Pakistan and India
0:51:52 > 0:51:54were declared independent.
0:51:55 > 0:51:59Nehru was sworn in as the first Prime Minister of India.
0:52:01 > 0:52:04Jinnah, as the first Governor General of Pakistan.
0:52:07 > 0:52:10But as millions celebrated,
0:52:10 > 0:52:17parts of India and Pakistan were about to explode in more violence.
0:52:29 > 0:52:32The day after independence,
0:52:32 > 0:52:34the precise details of the line
0:52:34 > 0:52:37dividing the Punjab and Bengal was announced.
0:52:40 > 0:52:44Millions of people found themselves on the wrong side of the border.
0:52:47 > 0:52:51On the Indian side, gangs of Sikhs and Hindus attacked Muslims.
0:52:52 > 0:52:56On the Pakistan side, gangs of Muslims attacked Hindus and Sikhs.
0:53:00 > 0:53:03This was largely the work of organised militia,
0:53:03 > 0:53:05grabbing land and property.
0:53:09 > 0:53:13As children, Tilak Raj Aneja and Kuldeep Kaur witnessed attacks
0:53:13 > 0:53:16on the villages where they lived.
0:53:50 > 0:53:52Spears...
0:53:59 > 0:54:01Wow.
0:54:20 > 0:54:22Oh, my goodness.
0:54:32 > 0:54:33Oh, my...
0:54:50 > 0:54:53For every Sikh and Hindu woman who was killed,
0:54:53 > 0:54:55a Muslim woman was killed too.
0:54:57 > 0:54:59The violence was on all sides.
0:55:01 > 0:55:05Both Nehru and Jinnah expressed their dismay at the violence.
0:55:06 > 0:55:09But neither they, nor the British,
0:55:09 > 0:55:12had planned for the scale of the upheaval.
0:55:18 > 0:55:22An estimated 17 million people fled their homes.
0:55:24 > 0:55:28And at least a million men, women and children lost their lives.
0:55:34 > 0:55:38It's just awful, and harrowing, and it's hard,
0:55:38 > 0:55:43because I imagine my own family being caught up in all that
0:55:43 > 0:55:48tragedy too, and my aunt who starved to death at that time, you know,
0:55:48 > 0:55:51would have been, you know, my aunt living today.
0:55:51 > 0:55:58But the other thing that I just find very hard to deal with,
0:55:58 > 0:56:02is just how explosive it was on all sides.
0:56:03 > 0:56:06As many Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs died, you know,
0:56:06 > 0:56:08everybody was a victim.
0:56:15 > 0:56:20During the Cold War, Pakistan became a loyal ally to the west,
0:56:20 > 0:56:22just as Churchill had wanted.
0:56:27 > 0:56:30But Pakistan's relations with India
0:56:30 > 0:56:33have been beset by distrust and conflict.
0:56:38 > 0:56:42There have been three wars between the two countries since 1947.
0:56:45 > 0:56:49And today, they both have nuclear weapons aimed at each other.
0:56:54 > 0:56:58Yet, there was nothing inevitable about partition.
0:56:58 > 0:57:02It was politicians, not ordinary Indians,
0:57:02 > 0:57:03who were the driving force behind it.
0:57:05 > 0:57:08First the British, with divide and rule,
0:57:08 > 0:57:12and then some of India's leaders encouraged religious difference
0:57:12 > 0:57:14as a weapon to win power.
0:57:24 > 0:57:27But now, 70 years later,
0:57:27 > 0:57:30as India and Pakistan celebrate their anniversaries,
0:57:30 > 0:57:33I believe it's time to forge a new relationship.
0:57:34 > 0:57:38Both nations have committed citizens, who love their countries,
0:57:38 > 0:57:41along with thriving communities all over the world.
0:57:43 > 0:57:47And this is the community that I'm now a big part of.
0:57:47 > 0:57:48British Asians.
0:57:52 > 0:57:54It's nice to see you!
0:57:54 > 0:57:56It's been so long!
0:57:56 > 0:57:58After 200 years of British rule,
0:57:58 > 0:58:02all our history and cultures are intertwined.
0:58:02 > 0:58:07I grew up here in Southall with Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs,
0:58:07 > 0:58:10sharing and appreciating each other's cultures.
0:58:12 > 0:58:18We long left the divisions brought about by partition behind us.
0:58:18 > 0:58:21And what that tells me is that although religion and culture
0:58:21 > 0:58:24are important in defining who we are,
0:58:24 > 0:58:27that doesn't mean they need to divide us.
0:58:27 > 0:58:30Rather, I believe they should enrich us,
0:58:30 > 0:58:32and that's something worth celebrating today,
0:58:32 > 0:58:34and for future generations.